Ascension

Chapter Thirty-Seven

The combined smell of cigarette and cigar smoke filled my lungs as I slowly became aware of my senses. Blurry lines. I reached my hand up and swayed, my conscious refusing to come back to reality. It didn't want me back, I realized it was pushing me to the furthest corner of my life, wishing that this was just a dream.

My head was pounding.

I somehow managed to open my eyes. A garage. The dim lights above me flickered, small flies buzzing around it carelessly. The unnerving feeling of doom settled on my shoulders. I rolled my head to the side, glancing out a small rectangular window in the corner I see small snowflakes falling.

Snowing? In Georgia?

My eyes slowly adjusted, the blurry lines slowly became my own reality. I quickly sat up and breathed in heavily. It was cold. I could see my breath in the air. Gavin was my first thought.

I remembered the pure rage of sadness in those beautiful blue eyes. I remembered the smile he gave me so often, and I started to tear up. I knew that look he had given me. It was the last thing I remember before I went unconscious. I saw the same look in Nicolas when both Sofia and Lucia were taken. I saw it whenever anyone mentioned Anastasia around Lucas.

I saw that same look in Gavin, the same feeling he had feared.

I wrapped my arms around myself and shivered violently. I felt sick. I started rocking back and forth, trying to muster some movement to keep myself from going into hypothermia.

"Dani?" Everything went loose. "Dani? Are you okay?"

My head whipped around to the corner just over my shoulder. I saw the dirty face of the woman we've been looking for. My chest nearly exploded with excitement and I moved up to my knees.

"Lucia!" I gasped. "Thank God you're alive!"

I then saw the whip lash marks across her skin. Fresh. They had barely healed. They were across her arms and down her legs. From here, she was in a mere tee shirt and underwear. Vulnerable. Cold. Defeated.

I had never seen such a look from her.

What have they done to her?

"Dani, don't worry about me." She coughed, "I'm okay."

"How long have I been out?"

"A couple of days I think."

I slowly nodded. I tried my best to look her in the eyes, not stare at those horrendous gaping wounds across her body. I try not to think about everything that they had done to her just in the waiting game. They must not have fed her. She had lost enough weight to concern anyone, I could see the bones in her wrists from here.

She leans her back against the wall. "They will be here soon with water. If you do what they say, they'll give you some." She hissed through her teeth as she attempted to adjust herself more comfortably. "That's the only thing that will keep us alive, okay?"

"I don't want anything from them." I spat. I don't think I could try to hide my disdain for these people even if I tried. What they did to my family, my friends, those poor children. They made me sick to my stomach. I didn't want handouts from them.

"Don't be an idiot." Lucia groaned. "For once in your life, listen." Her voice was raspy. "We need to survive this. And whatever you do... don't tell them you're Alverez."

I shake my head. "I can make a deal with them-"

"Use your brain. They'll just kill me and take you off. That's all they want." She yanked against her restraints. She leaned back and blew her curls out of her face. She looked gone, her face held no expression. But her eyes were empty, and I knew right in that very moment - she had lost all hope.